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Red Deer ranks low in safe driving study

Allstate Canada Safe Driving Study looks at four provinces

Red Deer ranked 63rd in a safe driving study that included 86 communities in four provinces.

The eighth-annual Allstate Canada Safe Driving Study showed collisions were on the rise slightly in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where the insurance company Allstate operates. Results of the study were based on insurance claims made by Allstate customers.

Across the four provinces, the collision rate rose to 5.70 per cent per 100 vehicles for 2014-16 from 5.60 in 2012-14, a 1.7 per cent increase.

The frequency of collisions in Red Deer was 6.25 per cent for 2014-16 and the rate has held steady since 2012-14 study.

Alberta reported an 11.4 per cent decrease in its collision rate.

“In Alberta, it’s trending in the right direction. City-by-city, we can’t say why it’s going up or down,” said Patrick Cole, Allstate Sherwood Park agency manager who used to work in the Red Deer office.

He said there could be a wide variety of reasons for Red Deer’s data remaining unchanged. The study doesn’t go into why.

For the second study in a row, Nova Scotia had the highest frequency of collisions. Most recently it experienced a 17.8 per cent increase in collisions.

Ten communities in Alberta were included in the study and four were ranked among the top 10 safest communities — Spruce Grove was ranked 1st, Lethbridge was 2nd, Medicine Hat was 6th, and St. Albert was 8th.

At 63rd, Red Deer ranked lowest among Alberta communities. Edmonton was ranked 55th. Calgary was 42nd.

The most common types of collisions were vehicles being rear-ended (26 per cent), collisions while passing through an intersection or turning (24 per cent), and collisions involving parked vehicles (13 per cent).

Friday had the highest collision rate.

Cole said the most frequent type of collisions and the day of the week when collisions happen most often has remained consistent over the years.

szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com